I think we may have done a post about Santa Claus last year but I can't remember exactly. So here's a Santa Claus post:
Heath and I decided a few years ago that we didn't want to lie to our girls about Santa Claus. We expect the truth without exception from them and we feel like they should be able to count on the truth from us too. There have been alot of questions this past year about ALOT of things; who made trees? where are the dinosaurs? are dinosaurs real? are pirates real? what are hands made of? are opossums good or bad? are wolves mean? where is God? is God real? is Santa real? If you have or have had a 3 or 5 year old you're familiar with these types of questions. They really go on and on. We don't lie to them about wolves or dinosaurs or God or pirates. So we told them the truth about Santa too. Heres the truth:
The story begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in the village of Patara. At the time the area was Greek and is now on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made a Bishop while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to the those in need and his love for children.
We have not tried to keep Santa out of Christmas in our home. All our stockings have Santa on them (yes we hang stockings) we have Santa ornaments and Christmas books about Santa Mouse. Santa is a large part of the culture we live in and pretending like we can't see him isn't really helpful (or honest- which is what we're going for here). And really, we don't mind if you tell your kids there's a Santa who hops down chimneys and brings them toys. We really don't. We are simply emphasizing the "giving to people who are in need" part of Santa rather than the "whats Santa gonna bring me?" part. When the girls ask me if Santa is real (which has happened about 3 times a week since the beginning of Dec.) I tell that the that real Santa, Saint Nicholas, gave gifts and money to children who didn't have money or toys. That Santa Claus is pretend but that it is now very important for us to help take care of people who need help. Just like Santa- who tried to be like Jesus.
